English literature. Psychology. History. Criminology. International relations. French.

These are just some of the majors chosen by St. Louis business executives who eventually pursued careers in other areas.

For example, David Kemper, chairman, president and CEO of Commerce Bank, earned a master’s in English literature from Oxford University before receiving an MBA from Stanford.

Mike Bolen, the chairman and CEO of McCarthy Building Co., studied general engineering as an undergraduate at the U.S. Air Force Academy and also holds a master’s in guidance and counseling from the University of Northern Colorado.

Renato Cataldo, president and CEO of portrait-studio company CPI Corp., earned a bachelor’s degree in biochemistry at the University of California, San Diego, and a doctorate of pharmacy from Creighton University in Omaha, Neb.

David Stokes, owner of Grey Eagle Distributors, holds a bachelor’s in economics and French from Boston College and an MBA from Northwestern University.

“I’ve always thought the best preparation for life is having a liberal arts education,” said Kemper, who studied history at Harvard College as an undergraduate.

For some, their college studies were never meant to lay the groundwork for a particular career path.

“As long as I graduated with honors, which I did, I didn’t think it (would) have an impact,” said H. Meade Summers III, president of Hilliker Corp., who studied medieval history at Union College in Schenectady, N.Y. He chose the major because, he said, “I always loved history since I was a kid.”

Like Summers, several other CEOs favored history, though they went on to pursue careers firmly rooted in the present, including Sheldon Tauben, president of Metalsco Inc., Gaspare Calvaruso, president of SSM St. Joseph Health Center; Scott Wilson, president of S.M. Wilson; and Kurt Mungenast, co-president of Mungenast Auto Family.

English, communications and marketing studies proved useful backgrounds for a handful of executives. Tracy Hart, CEO of Tarlton, studied English and communications. Kim Tucci, owner of The Pasta House Co., earned a bachelor’s and master’s in communications. Maxine Clark, chief executive bear of Build-A-Bear; David Peacock, president of A-B InBev; and Peter Edison, chairman and CEO of Bakers Footwear Group, all studied journalism.

Kemper said the Oxford program, which requires students to write up to 20 pages a week, was among the best educational experiences he has had. “Being able to write, to defend yourself, to articulate thoughts is a good preparation for anything,” he said.

In addition, the experience of living abroad and exposure to different cultures served him well as he advanced in his career and gained more responsibility.

When counseling up-and-comers in finance, Kemper said, he urges them to pursue liberal arts studies, too. “The specific business skill you can always pick up, whether or not you get an MBA ... I tend to think it’s not a good idea to major in business when you’re an undergraduate.”

Indeed, for Hubert Hoosman, president and CEO of Bridgeton-based Vantage Credit Union, his undergraduate degree in criminology has virtually nothing to do with his success in finance. Hoosman was one semester away from graduating from the University of Missouri-St. Louis, and had plans to join the Federal Bureau of Investigations or the Drug Enforcement Administration, when he revised his plans.

His first job after college was at the St. Clair County Ex-Offenders Program, which closed down three months later. In September 1979, he took a job in highway construction. “I was the guy with the ‘Slow down’ and ‘Stop’ signs on the side of the road,” he said. In May 1982, he took a position as a teller-loan officer trainee at Vantage and his career took off. He took night courses in accounting, economics, public speaking and other business courses to get a “better background and understanding of business,” he said. Hoosman completed Stanford University Graduate School of Business’ Executive Development Program in 1998.

Jim Weddle, the managing partner at Edward Jones, received a bachelor’s in psychology at DePaul University before earning an MBA at Washington University. But he started college as a biology major.

“I thought I wanted to become a veterinarian,” he said. Weddle changed his mind during his sophomore year and instead pursued psychology. Although he minored in business and economics, he met his wife, Stacey, also a psych major, and the two wrote a thesis together.

“At that time, psychology was interesting, I enjoyed it. It was not what I really wanted to do with my life,” said Weddle, who enrolled in an MBA program immediately after college. “Psychology was a very, very helpful background, I tell you, for communication skills, listening skills, figuring out how to best and most efficiently communicate with different types of people with different personalities and so forth.”

Robert Ketterer, president and CEO of the book and magazine distributor HDA, also has a scientific background. Ketterer, who holds a bachelor’s in biology and chemistry from Saint Louis University, originally planned to follow in his father’s footsteps and become a surgeon. During his junior year, he had second thoughts and took a personality test that advised him to become either a psychiatrist, floral arranger or architect. He chose the latter because, he said, construction sites had always held a kind of allure.

“I was mesmerized by how they were building these buildings,” he said.

With an architectural engineering degree from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, he worked as an engineer at Ralston Purina and 7-Up before launching HDA as the publisher of a book of houseplans. The book was distributed by Lowe’s, and HDA evolved into a $250 million wholesaler of books and magazines.

These days, Ketterer said he still uses scientific methods to make business decisions, and in particular “to analyze sales and test products before we take it to market,” he said.

In some cases, St. Louis executives put their non-business degrees to use before accepting their current jobs.

That’s the case with Greg Kozicz, president of Alberici Constructors Ltd. He holds a bachelor’s in economics and history from the University of Ottawa in Canada and a master’s in law and diplomacy and a Ph.D. in international relations from The Fletcher School, jointly administered by Tufts and Harvard University. Prior to a career in construction, Kozicz was a Canadian diplomat and served as chief of staff to Canada’s Science Minister.

Joseph Trover, CEO of sandwich maker Landshire Inc., said he still draws on his bachelor’s in sports management. A golf player at Guilford College in Greensboro, N.C., Trover said he aspired to own golf courses but switched gears after working at a course in Florida and briefly owning The Practice Tee Golf Center, a driving range in Fairview Heights, Ill. But he said the training set the stage for future business pursuits.

“One thing sports management did is, since you studied teams, it taught you about competition and how a good product can be a bad product quickly,” said Trover, who also holds an MBA from Saint Louis University. “Its harder to sell a losing team than a winning team; that works for any industrial product, as well.”

By contrast, Summers said his day-to-day work at Hilliker rarely intersects with his college studies of medieval history, unless he brings it up. “Sometimes I tell people, mostly just to get a response because they find it interesting. They’re like, ‘You’re kidding me,’” he said.